Randall drops SEED membership
By Billie Shelton — Daily Freeman-Journal WriterRANDALL - Hamilton County SEED has lost another member community after the Randall City Council decided this month to withdraw from the county-wide economic development organization.
Claiming a lack of benefit from being part of the organization, the council voted to cancel Randall's involvement. SEED membership is based on a $3.72 per capita assessment, which for this smallest town in the county comes to $550.
With this action, member towns in SEED now total less than half of the communities in the county: Stanhope, Stratford, Ellsworth, and Jewell.
Other business tackled by the council at this regular meeting was to again look at ways of financing the storm sewer project, which will cost $25,000. The council decided to again review funding options at their August meeting.
Another repeat agenda item was the former bank building, which the city now owns. After the Randall-Story Bank vacated the building and donated it to the city, it was remodeled to house two businesses. One of them has now relocated.
Plans are to move the city hall operations to that space. New flooring and accessibility issues will be addressed. Renovations are also planned for the business space in the other half of the building. The new city hall will also be used for senior citizen gatherings.
In other action, the council:
Accepted a $500 donation to the city from the Randall High School alumni group.
Followed up on homes in town with no house numbers. Those property owners will have until August 15 to apply numbers; after that, the city will put them up and bill the owner. The council stressed the importance of house numbers for emergencies.
Started preliminary work on a capitol project plan.
